tushanshu | 001 ♓ [Video]

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001 ♓ [Video]

[Kaldur takes in the location as calmly as he can after having the strange location explained to him. He knows that this is a city on the back of a turtle—which sounds vaguely like something out of one of the books on surface-dweller mythology he had read once—but why he had been chosen and how cut off his final memories were before arriving here was still a mystery.]

It is said that to better understand your surroundings you must look at it with many eyes. [He is formal, but genial. He does not wish to start a confrontation on his first day.] I am known as Aqualad. It is a very…unique situation in which I find myself. Where we are and how we may have come to be here has been explained to me, but I would greatly appreciate any further information that those who come before me are willing to provide. The frequency of arrivals, whether others have managed to leave before, and general disposition of the native inhabitants would be very helpful. Those I have met so far have been...amicable, I can say.

[If none respond, he will have to seek a less direct route of coming by the information. He bows his head slightly, but visibly.] Thank you for your time.

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Then his memories went further than even my own. New Years is not for some weeks yet. It was the night of December 5th last I remember.

[And then he pauses.] Kid Flash was here, but now is gone? Who else is here, Zatanna?

Just me and Robin.

And now you.

I see. Thank you. If there is anything else that I should be aware of?

[And he's going to switch to a private filter because he does not want to ask too much over an open network.]

I speaking to my King and Queen. Are other members of the Justice League also here?

[A nod. She'd caught sight of the King of Atlantis earlier, but hadn't had much of a reason to talk to him. Recognizing him only through second-hand accounts and television images from home.]

Batman's here, and so's Superman. But they're not the ones we know.

[As she speaks, she uses the encryption program Robin had given her to up the privacy of their conversation]

Same with Green Lantern. Back home, you know how we only have three on Earth? Well, this guy's Number Four.

So we have two of the stronger forces of the league here, the King and Queen of Atlantis, and Batman, who I do not doubt has considered a way to escape. That they are still here means leaving will not be as simple as I wish it could be. [Even if they are not the same people of their world, it is good to know.]

If it were that easy, you think I'd still be here?

[Good parties or no. Good friends or no...though that last one might be a little harder to let go.]

Whatever it is keeping us here, it's way more powerful than anything I've ever seen. It might even be more powerful than anything Dad's ever seen.

If it meant leaving everyone else behind with no assurance you could come back for them, yes.

[He could not see Zatanna leaving Robin if anyone behind, considering how close they had become.]

Does this place affect your ability to use magic?

[...okay, he had a point. She was willing to do some pretty crazy things, putting herself at risk for the sake of others. She wasn't willing to risk leaving them behind. Any of them.]

Actually, no. I'm as strong here as I was back home, so long as I stay on the turtle.

[And then, because she knows it will be his next question...]

We visited the mainland not too long ago. Worst vacation ever, for the record. But it proved that anybody with powers will lose them the further away from Keelai we travel. Couple miles out, I'd lost my powers completely.

[That is greatly worrisome considering that his powers are not only his ability to manipulate water.]

Perhaps our powers are taken because the only way to leave is somewhere on the mainland. Stripping us of our means to escape if we get too near to it.

[She shakes her head. This isn't the first time she's had this conversation. And the months' worth of experience she's gained from asking around...experimenting with local magic...reaffirms the theory she'd suggested not so long ago.]

It's not that simple.

The turtle is what's powering us. Magic can't function without it. No matter what we knew about our abilities back home, the rules here are different.

[That is a lot to take in. It makes Kaldur pensive--even more so than usual. If the turtle is what provides them their abilities, but it is also what keeps them trapped in this world, then are truly trapped on a precarious edge.

But it would not do to show her his frustration or confusion. Even if this is not their world, Kaldur is the team leader.]

If there is power, then there must be a way for us to use it. We will find a way to leave eventually. Could you explain to me how Kid Flash came to no longer be here?

I've been working on it. I have a few ideas, but so far, nothing permanent.

[The cube Eva had shown her. The one that had temporarily granted her access to her magic without the turtle. An alternate power source. But that, in and of itself, was also a problem; it was still a power source. Not a way to get their powers back permanently.]

[She thought back to the day she found out about Wally. Her conversation with Dick.]

I wish I knew.

I found out he was gone through a friend. He saw the kedan already emptying out his things--[...which included the Helmet. Crap. She'd have to explain that to him too.]--and...that was it. He was already gone.

[Her expression hardened]

But something of his remained. And you're not going to like it.

Perhaps finding out how he disappeared may provide us with clues, but if you and Robin has not found any as of yet, there may be none to find.

[Unless his disappearance is part of something far more sinister. The change in Zatanna's expression concerns him.]

What was it, Zatanna?

The Helmet.

I don't know how, but when I was brought here, it must've come with me. Only we were separated, and Wally found it first.

[Here, she can't help wincing as a thought occurred to her. Kaldur was the Team leader. It had been his authority she'd gone over in not telling them about her plan to summon and use the Helmet in the first place.]

[It's been weeks, so for Kaldur, the insubordination has been done and dealt with--the consequences were more than enough for Kaldur to think she did not need further reprimanding. The fact that the Helmet is there though, that is worrisome.]

Is it in a secure location?

[Very worrisome]

It was, for a while. If you count Wally as "secure."

But, when he left, the Emperor confiscated it...then--and don't ask me how this happened--some red-haired idiot decided to go looting through her treasures and ended up with it.

What? Does this person know just what they are keeping in their possession? It is not a trinket or a toy.

I think it's pretty safe to say she has no idea. She might be able to sense there's something magical about it, but I had that covered.

[It's not a lie when she claims that it could just as easily be her inside the helmet people are sensing. Just covering up the truth with a believed truth.]

Of all things, she tried to sell it. Over the open Network.

[Kaldur is more disturbed by the blatant lack of concern this person is showing. Anything could happen. He knows full well that if pushed Nabu will take any host he can, and it does not need to be one with magical compatibility.]

We cannot allow it to be left in the hands of someone who does not know its power when someone else they come across may. That is too dangerous.

Tell me something I don't know.

[A sigh, and she looks down. Genuinely upset by all this, though she rarely lets it show. Only in front of the people she trusts most.]

I don't know what to do, Aqualad. This is all my fault. Again.

You acted thinking what you were doing would be helpful. You could not have expected this outcome. No one could. [Kaldur can understand why she would feel guilty, but he is not one for assigning blame when finding a solution is more pertinent. Allowing Zatanna to dwell too much does not help anyone, least of all herself.]

Perhaps we can negotiate with this woman to get the helmet returned?

Already tried.

She wants money.

[And her tone indicates money, in this world, is not something she has an abundance of. Without her father's fortune, she was your average 14-year-old who already worked two part-time jobs just for living expenses.]

...Then we must find a way to get it. I have been told we are expected to find employment here, anyway.

[If only it were that easy. Or Lina was less greedy.]

Getting jobs isn't too difficult.

I managed to find two part-times not too long after I got here. Some days, I work in one of the local ice cream shops. Others, I found this little magic shop that was willing to hire me. It's been enough to get by. [Until now.]

I see. Then I will proceed with finding what...occupations here I am most suited towards.[Kaldur cannot allow this to remain as it is. It is too serious a situation and hopefully more people working towards raising the funds will make it go faster.]

Do you know if there is anything else she might be able to be negotiate to accept in exchange?

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